There is growing concern among senior Garda management about an escalating series of threats made to Tánaiste Simon Harris and his family.
The third incident in a week occurred on Sunday when different callers contacted at least three Garda stations claiming a bomb had been planted at the Harris family home in Greystones, Co Wicklow.
The incident, which prompted a major security operation, followed threats of a sexual nature made against a member of the Harris family last Friday, and threats to kidnap his children the previous weekend. The kidnapping threat resulted in the arrest of a woman for questioning last week.
Mr Harris was due to attend the Fine Gael “think in” in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, over the next two days. The weekend threat was not expected to impact his plan to attend the event, where the upcoming budget, the first for the current Government, was set to be the main focus.
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Detectives went to the Harris family home on Sunday, aided by the Garda Dog Unit, to search the property after the bomb threats were made. Mr Harris and his family were not at the house as the Garda search was carried out. No devices were found at the property.
At least three calls were made to Garda stations claiming a bomb had been planted at the home, with the claims apparently relayed by different callers. It is suspected the threats were arranged between a group of people using the messaging app Telegram to co-ordinate the crime.
Garda headquarters confirmed the force was investigating the bomb threats but declined to make any further comment.
Mr Harris spoke out in a personal message, issued on Saturday, condemning last week’s threats, which he described as “vile and horrific” adding they had “deeply distressing consequences”.
“There is a clear and sinister pattern and a very apparent motivation; to intimidate me out of public office,” he said, adding he would not “keep silent”.
There was surprise and shock in political circles, and among gardaí, that Sunday’s bomb threats, which appear to have been the most organised of the recent incidents, took place so soon after Mr Harris had made his public comments.
All of the recent incidents and others – including a separate bomb threat and masked protesters gathering outside the Harris home – are under Garda investigation.
After a protest outside the house in May 2024, five arrests were made in the months that followed. When a bomb threat was made in June, 2024, a man was arrested for questioning six weeks later.
Though the Dublin-based woman, arrested last Tuesday for the online threat to kidnap Mr Harris’s children, was released without charge, the investigation into that incident is continuing.
Gardaí are now concerned the publicity generated by the incidents of the last week will give rise to copycat threats and are fearful they may escalate to in-person incidents.
Mr Harris’s security detail, which includes being accompanied by armed detectives, was being kept under review. The main concern is that a malleable person may be influenced by the recent incidents and attempt to escalate the situation in some way.
Gardaí are concerned that, despite the arrests over the previous incidents, and Mr Harris’s comments at the weekend, some of those who want to target him have not been deterred.
This was also despite one person having been charged after violent threats were made against the Tánaiste, though the details of that case cannot be outlined for legal reasons.
